Gardening for Wellness & Joy: White Strawberries

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Spring is here, and it's a popular time to create new garden beds. But before you order truckloads of garden mix, there's something worth knowing: you don't need to fill the entire bed with expensive soil.
In this episode, I'm answering Becky's question about creating a new garden bed for her dahlias. She has the right idea with cardboard, mulch, compost and sheep pellets, but there are a few tweaks that will help her build a healthier, more productive garden bed.
I'll walk you through how to layer a raised garden bed, what materials to use, how much garden mix and compost you'll actually need, and how to make use of the organic material you might already have lying around.
We also explore some optional additives for those wanting to take their soil building a little further, including wood ash, seaweed, manure, comfrey and biochar.
Whether you're creating a small garden bed or building a much deeper raised bed, the aim is the same: work with what you have, build healthy soil and create a garden that supports you for years to come.
🌱 What You'll Discover
Why garden mix and potting mix aren't the same thing
What to look for when purchasing garden mix
Why adding living compost matters
How to layer a raised garden bed using the sandwich bed method
The similarities between sandwich beds and Hügelkultur
What to use for the woody core and organic layers
How much garden mix and compost you actually need
When double digging might be worthwhile
How to use garden lime, wood ash, manure and seaweed
Why comfrey, dogwood and yarrow are useful mineral accumulators
How to prepare biochar before adding it to your garden
A Useful Rule of Thumb
For every square metre of garden bed, you'll need approximately 100 litres of growing material for a 10 cm growing layer.
That's:
80 litres of garden mix and 20 litres of compost to
50 litres of garden mix and 50 litres of compost (go higher on good compost if you've got it)
You can then build the rest of your bed using woody material and other organic matter.
🌿 References & Resources
The Visual Guide to accompany this episode is here. 
Kaipātiki Project – Living Compost:
https://kaipatiki.org.nz/
Listen to Related Episodes
Sez the Vet – Understanding Manure
🌱 Have a gardening question you'd like me to answer? Visit whitestrawberriespodcast.com and send it through. Double points if you send it verbally!
May your garden beds be productive and your strawberries white.
Ask a Question – Submit a gardening question for a future episode.
About Sam – Learn more about the host of White Strawberries.
Support the Podcast – Buy Sam a Cuppa to help keep new episodes coming.

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If you’re new to raising seeds, this episode is for you 🌱
If you want a visual guide to this episode here it is!
I’m running through the very basics of how I raise seeds, including how I make my own seed-raising mix using compost and worm castings.
I also share a few optional additions, which seeds I recommend starting with if you’re new, how deep to plant them, and my simple method for keeping seeds damp and protected from pests.
My biggest tip? Start with large seeds. They’re straightforward, easy to handle and a great way to get started with seed raising.
🌱 In this episode:
• Making your own seed-raising mix
• Sieving compost and worm castings
• Optional additions for your mix
• Which seeds are easiest to start with
• How deep to plant seeds
• Keeping seeds damp and protected
• Saving and storing your own seeds
You don’t need to make seed raising complicated. Plants were doing it perfectly well before we came along — so let’s imitate nature and keep it simple.
May your strawberries be white.💚🌿
Ask a Question – Submit a gardening question for a future episode.
About Sam – Learn more about the host of White Strawberries.
Support the Podcast – Buy Sam a Cuppa to help keep new episodes coming.

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Good morning and happy Spring from Aotearoa, my deck at sunrise. 
This episode is unedited with the natural bird song of the morning.
I cover 3 mistakes I'm seeing gardeners make right now.
- Not mulching their trees
- Pruning now! (No don't)
- Planting fruit trees now
I'll unpack why these are mistakes and what to do next. 
Ask a Question – Submit a gardening question for a future episode.
About Sam – Learn more about the host of White Strawberries.
Support the Podcast – Buy Sam a Cuppa to help keep new episodes coming.

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What exactly is a plant guild — and how do you know what belongs in one?
In this episode of White Strawberries, I’m answering a listener question about guilds: what they are, whether they all follow the same principles, and whether the plants in a guild need to come from the same place.
A guild is simply a group of plants that support one another. Instead of thinking about a fruit tree as an individual plant that needs to be maintained, we can start thinking about the whole ecosystem around it — including nitrogen fixers, mineral accumulators, pollinator plants, ground covers, pest-management plants and plants that provide mulch.
I walk through four different guilds and the kinds of conditions and plants that suit each one: citrus, Mediterranean, temperate, and subtropical guilds, as well as the different functions plants can play within them.
________________________
The big idea? You don't have to get your guild perfect. Start by understanding your land, observe what is happening, and then add plants that support what is already there.
If you're starting from scratch, map your land first. Look at temperature, shade, water and wind throughout the year, then consider which guild fits each area.
🌿 Want the Guilds Guide?
I've created a visual guide to the guilds discussed in this episode, with examples and pictures. Here it is.
And if you have a gardening question you'd like me to answer on the podcast, send me a voice message or write it in. I love answering questions about the things you're actually trying to figure out in your garden.
🎧 Previous Episode Mentioned
How to Grow a Subtropical Forest in a Cold Climate | With Steve Fawcett — Episode 19
Listen to the episode through the White Strawberries podcast feed.
May your guilds be in the right place and your strawberries white. 🌿💚 Sam
Ask a Question – Submit a gardening question for a future episode.
About Sam – Learn more about the host of White Strawberries.
Support the Podcast – Buy Sam a Cuppa to help keep new episodes coming.

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If you’ve ever looked at a beautiful plant and thought, I’d love one of those, you might not need to buy one. You might just need to take a cutting.
In this episode of White Strawberries, we’re getting into the wonderfully simple world of plant propagation — how to take cuttings and turn a small piece of an existing plant into a whole new plant.
I talk about taking cuttings from deciduous trees like figs, grapes and elderberries, why waiting until the leaves have dropped can be the perfect time, and how to recognise the leaf nodes where roots and new growth will form.
We also get into the slightly geekier side of cuttings, including cloning, diversity, grafted fruit trees, rooting hormones and why some plants have a much higher “take rate” than others.
And if you’ve received one of my fig cuttings in the mail, there are a few tips for getting it safely into soil and giving it the best chance of growing.
🌱 What You’ll Discover
How to take hardwood cuttings from deciduous plants
Why figs, grapes and hydrangeas are so easy to propagate
How to identify leaf nodes
Where to place leaf nodes when planting a cutting
Why cuttings are clones of the parent plant
Why diversity still matters when propagating
When rooting hormone can help
How to take cuttings from evergreen plants
Whether you need pots, special soil or fancy propagation equipment
How taking cuttings can help us share abundance within our communities
🔗 Free Cuttings Guide
I’ve created a free PDF with the basics of taking and growing cuttings:
Download the free Cuttings PDF
Take a walk around your neighbourhood, look at what’s growing, ask a friend for a cutting — and have a play. You might be surprised by just how many new plants you can grow for free.
Ask a Question – Submit a gardening question for a future episode.
About Sam – Learn more about the host of White Strawberries.
Support the Podcast – Buy Sam a Cuppa to help keep new episodes coming.